A New York veterinary hospital keeps the medical history of the cat Sabrina, who, after falling from the 32nd floor, remained alive with a broken tooth and other minor injuries. At first glance, this fantastic story is not so surprising and certainly not unique.
If a person falls from a great height, he usually receives severe injury - fractures of the skull and spine, and severe internal bleeding may develop. It is rare that anyone survives a fall from a height of several floors.
How cats land on their feet
The question of cats falling has occupied physicists for a long time. Several approximate models have been proposed that could explain how cats manage to land on their feet. Scientists have come to the conclusion that this is, after all, a reflex, and not a special calculation of rotation at the beginning of the fall, as was commonly thought before. Here's what helps cats land safely:
- An excellently developed vestibular apparatus that controls the position of the body in space;
- When falling, cats spread their paws, increasing the surface area of their body, thereby turning into a small “parachute.” The falling speed does not exceed 100 km/h, regardless of the height from which the animal falls;
- To roll over, the cat first straightens its head and then bends its body in the middle. After which it turns over 180⁰ along its axis and again changes the bend of the body, compensating for the angular momentum that arises during rotation. Both halves of the body rotate, most likely synchronously. That is, the body bends, but does not twist;
- Before falling, the hind legs are aligned according to the position of the front ones;
- Before landing, cats arch their backs slightly and bend their paws so that the force of the blow is distributed across the tendons and muscles, softening the landing;
- The muscles of cats act as an excellent shock absorber, since in relation to the total body weight they are stronger than, for example, in humans.
By the way, according to research, when cats fall from a very high height, they still land not on their paws, but on their stomach. And tailless cats move in flight in the same way as tailed ones. Only for proper grouping they use their hind legs more. Deaf cats fall just as well as healthy ones, but blind cats behave less actively when falling.
"Falling Skater"
The French mathematician of the 17th-18th centuries, Antoine Paran, and after him James Clerk Maxwell, believed that a cat, which is already spinning at the moment of falling, can change the speed of its rotation by pulling or extending the full length of its paw, which changes its overall moment inertia. The explanation was already recorded in detail by William Gordon Stables.
“At the beginning of a fall from a height, the cat’s back is curved in a semicircle. Natural instinct prompts her, after she has flown a foot or two, to suddenly contract the muscles of her back and extend her paws; now her stomach arches and her back becomes concave, which changes the center of gravity and turns her body over; After this, the cat, in order to land on its paws, can only hold itself in this position.”
This explanation does not seem to be true: a cat in free fall is not attached to anything, which means that changing the position of its body does not affect its stability in any way. Additionally, scientists couldn't really notice all of the animal's movements because cats roll over too quickly. But soon photography came to the aid of people.
Cats in space
In the 1950-60s, during experiments to prepare for the launch of animals and humans into space, the behavior of cats in zero gravity was studied. It turned out that in zero gravity cats do not roll over, since there is no gravity there. Upon returning to the gravity field, the cat may roll over if it has spent no more than five seconds in weightlessness. Otherwise, the proportion of successful rollovers fell.
Thomas Kane, a professor of engineering mathematics at Stanford University, applied his mathematical methods to the falling cat problem. He created the most accurate model to date, which combines the Rademaker and Marey hypotheses. The study of cat movement was used to teach astronauts how to effectively change their body position in zero gravity.
Complex reflex
Equally important was the question of how the animal's brain controls the body's muscles to turn the cat over correctly. In 1916, Lewis Weed of Johns Hopkins University and his colleague Henry Mueller conducted the first neurobiological study of the cat reflex. They were not interested in the specific movements of the cat, but in how the nervous system initiates these movements.
The species “turned off” the cat’s cerebral hemispheres from the process - and saw that a cat lacking cerebral hemispheres does not exhibit a rollover reflex. This suggested that consciousness was required to flip in the air. In addition, Müller and Weed tried to understand how a cat determines which way to turn in order to land on its paws. They found that a blindfolded cat is able to roll over and land in the correct position, and a cat with a damaged vestibular system but functioning vision can do the same. But if you blindfold a cat and at the same time damage its vestibular apparatus, the cat will not even try to roll over. This means that the rollover reflex relies either on vision or on the sense of balance.
How do cats survive falling from great heights?
In addition to the ability to group, cats have a number of advantages that nature has endowed them with:
1. Skeleton. Flexible, lightweight bones coupled with their small size help cats remain more protected than other animals and people when falling from heights.
2. Resistance. Terminal velocity is the maximum speed an object reaches as it falls. It can be reduced by increasing drag, which is air resistance that can slow an object down. Cats have increased resistance due to the way they move their limbs when falling. Also resistance increases wool. This is why furry cats are more protected when falling from a height.
3. Paws. A cat's paws are strong and muscular. They help cats move unnoticed and also soften falls by acting as shock absorbers. The force of the blow is distributed between the four limbs and allows you to protect the body.
4. Tail. It can help stabilize the body when falling. Short-tailed and tailless cats do not have this advantage, but this does not affect the righting reflex itself.
The cat cannot walk on his own and falls over on his side.
Hello, we have this problem. The cat cannot walk normally for 3-4 days; it “slides” to the left. Initially, he was limping on his left leg, it gave way inward, and now the entire left side seems to be giving out. They started visiting the doctor after Senya became lethargic and inactive. We were told that the problem was in the kidneys, we were given IVs, but the condition did not improve. Then they did an ultrasound, there was nothing wrong. To check, the doctor decided to take a picture of the lungs, it turned out that there was swelling there. Just now we stood in line for an ultrasound of the heart; it turned out that this is very problematic in Moscow. During treatment, vitamins were injected, the condition improved, the cat ate, and seemed cheerful. Then he just started limping on his left leg, we thought that the injection into the muscle was unsuccessful, since we give injections ourselves. But the doctors said it goes away quickly. For a while he began to walk normally, as usual. And then, as I said, I began to collapse. Today everything has completely worsened, he cannot walk independently, only if he is supported on the left side. Refuses to eat. He seems to be able to feel his hind legs, they even checked them with a needle. Sena is 13 years old. Please help, we are very worried about our cat!
Landing mechanism
Experiments with cats falling were carried out two centuries ago by French researchers. They changed the height, released the cat and analyzed its movements. For a long time it was believed that the tail was responsible for landing on four paws, because it was considered a kind of rudder. But later it turned out that even without a tail, the cat always lands on its paws.
Regardless of the position in which the fall begins, in a very short time the cat's body turns around and aligns itself with the ground. In more detail it looks like this
"Push up and turn around"
Physician and photographer Etienne-Jules Marey recorded all stages of a cat's fall in photographs. When the French Academy saw these photos, they couldn’t believe their eyes. How can a cat turn itself half a turn without a support point? Maybe she was pushing off from the window sill or the hand that dropped her? But no, Marey's photographs clearly showed that the revolution begins only when the cat is already in free flight and does not have any objects nearby from which it could push off.
Mathematician Emile Guillou proposed the following model of what is happening: a cat, with the help of its front and hind legs, controls the moment of inertia of the front and rear parts of the body. First, he stretches out his hind legs and picks up his front legs (and now the upper part is already correctly oriented), then he picks up his hind legs, stretches out his front legs and “twists” the lower part to the correct orientation, without turning the upper part, which is already in the correct position.
Help save the cat! The cat is dying.
Really need some good advice! After suffering from an illness, the cat was vaccinated some time later. After vaccination (on the 3rd day), the cat seemed to have lost his limbs (I can’t call him paralysis, because he still moves them). Side effects on the central nervous system. Stretching of the limbs as if in convulsions (the convulsions themselves are not observed, as the skier stretches out his paws and slides on the linoleum), twitching of the head while lapping up liquid, as if hiccups (but this is definitely not hiccups). The cat has been eating almost nothing for about 3 days (I feed him broth from a spoon), and goes to the toilet once every 1-2 days, “in a small way.” He doesn’t walk or sit on his own, he just lies on his side. He also has difficulty holding his head. The gaze is conscious, purrs. The doctor cannot do anything, the diagnosis is also unclear. Only the words: “I can’t say anything, all I can do is give injections and hope.” I have already stopped calling the doctor (the doctor is one of the best in the city, only good reviews). I don't want to put you to sleep. I believe that if there is even a small chance, it should be used. Help, what else can be done? Below is our entire medical history for professionals: I’ll start from the beginning: we adopted a small kitten (1-1.5 months) at an animal shelter (June 2012). The kitten turned out to be sick. A week later I lost a lot of weight, I was treated for an intestinal infection (the antiviral drug fosprenil, the immunostimulant catasal and the antibiotic I don’t remember the name of). He was cured within a week. October 2012 - the cat refused food. The reasons are unknown, we didn’t keep track, because... at that time the child was in the hospital. During the child’s injury, the cat really experienced stress, hid under the sofa and sat there for half a day. We contacted the veterinarian. The cause of the disease was never found out; a blood test was taken - everything was within the physiological norm. Treatment for about 3 weeks: fosprenil (antiviral), cobactan (antibiotic), catazal (immunostimulant). It seems that the cat has more or less come to his senses. We finished the treatment. A week later, the cat’s eyes “closed” (that is, the inner eyelid closed the eye by approximately 1/3). Back to the doctor. They said: feline herpes. We resumed fosprenil + anandin drops in the eyes and nose. We treated for 2 weeks. The cat did not feel better. Here at the clinic the head doctor (the owner of the clinic) took care of us. The cat has a temperature of 41.2 (normal 38-39). He prescribed an antibiotic (human suspension amoxiclav). Weekly blood monitoring (the blood, by the way, was normal). The cat is on the mend. The cat began to eat, play, in a word, returned to normal life. Treatment was completed on the 20th of December. After 10 days we were given an anthelmintic, and after another 10 days we were given the Multifel-4 vaccination. 2 days after vaccination, the cat seemed to be paralyzed. It felt like he was having a stroke. His legs were in convulsions, at first he walked on high, straight legs (like on stilts). I couldn’t keep my balance, I fell on my side, I could crash into a door frame, I refused to eat or use the toilet. Back to the doctor. Treatment: saline dropper + piracetam + vitamins B1, B6 alternately, + cerebrolysate (all drugs from a human pharmacy). On the 2nd day of treatment, hope was lost, but the treatment was not abandoned. On the 5th day the cat came to his senses. His joy knew no bounds. On the 7th day of illness, the cat again (out of nowhere, one might say) became ill. I pet him, give him a massage, stretch his paws, warm him up, give him injections and IVs. By the way, I have never had a more sincere and intelligent animal in my life. Can you imagine a cat playing hide and seek with a child! Despite all his illnesses, there was never any thought of abandoning him. You never expect a trick from him, he will never do dirty tricks or steal something from the sly. Every morning I wake up and every day I return from work and there is no confidence that he will wait for me...
Spine
Flying kittens
In addition to muscles, successful flight also depends on the flexibility of the joints of the spine. A cat, unlike a person, has a large number of spinal links (a cat has thirty of them, while a person has 24). This makes the cat's spine elastic, and that is why the animal can so elegantly and gracefully arch its back in a way that a person is not able to do.
A remarkably developed vestibular apparatus allows a cat that falls to the ground to navigate its surroundings, intuitively assess its own chances and bring its body into the most favorable position for landing.
A cat is a fairly small and light animal. Its weight relative to the area of the body is much less than that of a person. This also contributes to the ability to correctly group the torso.
Fall Prevention
Mosquito nets do not help keep a cat out of a window. They are absolutely useless and only protect against mosquitoes. These nets do not stick well to the window and are easily torn. If the cat needs it, it will jump out in no time.
Don’t rely on plastic windows with ventilation mode. This doesn't save cats. They often get stuck between the frames, receiving damage no less terrible than if they fell.
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Instead of all this, special metal meshes were invented for cats. They are attached to the window very securely and do not tear. Cats can even jump and hang on them. Therefore, if you have a tailed friend living at home, such a net is vital.
Possible consequences
Independent experiments with cat abilities are fraught with dangerous consequences. You should not intentionally release an animal from a great height, otherwise instead of a successful landing, disaster may happen in front of the owner’s eyes :
- traumatic brain injuries;
- ruptures of internal organs;
- fractures, dislocations;
- hematomas, lacerations;
- shock.
Older animals often have problems with the musculoskeletal system, so for them a fall from a height can be fatal. But all negative circumstances are nothing more than an exception. Every cat, 3-4 weeks after birth, a priori knows how to land correctly.
Every person, at least once in his life, wonders why cats land on their paws? Despite the fact that this phenomenon is easily explained in terms of the physiology of the cat family, for most people it is nothing more than a unique and inimitable ability. Cats are amazing animals that will never cease to amaze and captivate humanity.
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Great article
Associated symptoms
Symptoms of diseases can develop in two ways. In the first case it manifests itself immediately and in full, and in the second it manifests itself gradually with an intensifying effect. In any situation, you need to seek help from a specialist as soon as possible. Among the most common symptoms are:
- unsteady gait;
- falling on one side when walking;
- inability to move quickly;
- lack of coordination;
- uncertain behavior in space;
- fear of making a movement;
- gently stepping on one side of the paws;
- pupils of different sizes;
- shifty eyes;
- fainting;
- inadequate reaction to habitual actions;
- With epilepsy, the jaws involuntarily close, convulsions, and involuntary urination.
This behavior is justified by the animal’s fear of falling, dizziness, pain in the brain and heart, as well as in the limbs. The development of paralysis can begin as a result of damage to the body by infection, or an inflammatory process in internal organs and systems, when blood flow is disrupted. If parts of the spinal column are disturbed, then the owners often note a disturbance in the bowel movements of the bladder and intestines. The development of ataxia can be facilitated by a brain tumor, panleukopenia, chemical poisoning, and skull trauma.
Treatment is prescribed only by a veterinarian based on the diagnosis. In some cases, the animal will be indicated for inpatient treatment with injections and droppers.
